Kyakonda (or, as the sign says, Kyakkonda)

Implementation! On Wednesday, 24 September, we delivered the pigs to the VSLAs in Kyakonda. We arrived a little later than when they usually sit for their cluster meeting due to the rainwater harvesting training in Kyotera, but we finally brought the six pigs for the two VSLAs. The pigs had arrived ahead of us in the truck, and when we arrived, we found somewhat of a conflict among the VSLAs. Luckily, the Chairwoman of all of the Sub-county's clusters was there and mediated among them. Apparently, the issue had to do with other projects that had come to the cluster, including rainwater harvesting tanks and a goat payback project, both of which the oldest VSLAs had benefitted from since not everyone could benefit. So, the younger VSLAs triumphed, and two of them were chosen to be the first beneficiaries of the project. Not much additional training was conducted because of the disorganized nature of the cluster, since it was already past the time when they normally leave. Community members seemed to be very pleased, though, and many thank yous were expressed throughout our time there. We were pleased with things as well, and in the coming weeks, I will be working on bringing some monitoring and evaluation materials to them, just as we had brought to the VSLAs in Kasaali and Kyotera. Some unexpected costs were revealed on Wednesday, including extra costs for feed for the pigs since Godfrey was in Kampala and couldn't collect feeds for them, and also the costs of pigs have risen in the area to 55,000/= (an increase of 5,000/=, which added up to an additional 30,000/= in addition to the feed and the transport that was already accounted for in the budget. Lately, I've spent much of my time in Kyotera because of the rainwater harvesting project and have missed the Kasaali cluster meeting for a couple weeks now. I'll have to check in with them soon.

The following were photos taken from the implementation, so enjoy! Oh, and I've also added another slideshow to the sidebar in case you want to see more...

Project Expansion to Kyakonda

In light of the additional funding that we've received, we met with the Kyakonda cluster, also in Kasaali Sub-county, to see if they would be interested in the project as well. They were very interested and have made arrangements to choose two of their VSLAs to start the project. We have asked Godfrey to do the same as before as far as gathering the pigs at his place and purchasing them for later transport to the cluster. We will be purchasing six pigs to begin with, but this cluster is much bigger than Kasaali and Kyotera - about twice the size, so if we get more funding, we will give pigs to another VSLA in Kyakonda. The training and pig delivery will occur on the 24th of August, so additional updates and photos will be coming soon. Thanks to all who have donated and made this expansion possible. Below is a photo of one of the VSLAs in Kyakonda.

Pig Delivery in Kyotera and Some Documents

Hi! Regarding this blog, perhaps you may have noticed the addition of several documents to the sidebar under the blog archive. I have included these in the blog as a way to share the files relevant to the project. You are more than welcome to use them to better understand the project or perhaps even to use them as resources to implement the project yourself in other communities.

And on to implementation...Yesterday, we handed out the training and reporting booklets to Kasaali and Kyotera. We also delivered the pigs to Kyotera. Until now, the VSLAs to receive the pigs first were chosen by the community based on which ones were the oldest (in terms of the VSLA start dates, not the members). We spoke to the Chairwoman in Kyotera, and she suggested that since there were three groups which started at the same time that we give 2 pigs each to the three groups, so we've made changes accordingly. We also found out that of the pigs that had been purchased, three were younger than 5 months old but were cross breeds and therefore of better quality, something which was not the case with the pigs that went to Kasaali.

I have included some pictures in this post in addition to adding a slideshow to the sidebar with more photos. The first one is of Kato explaining about the training and reporting booklets. The second and third are pictures of the Kyotera community members and the pigs. Enjoy!

Thank You!!

This post is dedicated to all of the people who helped make this project possible...

Above all, I must thank the Kasaali and Kyotera clusters for being so gracious as to welcome me into their communities during these past months. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work closely with them, as well as the staff of UWESO to bring this project to life. I must thank Mr. Kato Joseph Yiga, the former Lead Community Based Trainer (CBT) for his endless efforts throughout the project, among which were acting as my translator, transporting me to and from the field on a motorbike, finding transport for the pigs, and helping to develop and administer training for the project. Also, a big thank you goes out to Mr. Lubega Godfrey for helping us to locate the pigs and aiding in the training process.

I would also like to thank Ms. Mago Anita, Ms. Tindyebwa Judith and Mr. Edward Morgan for their invaluable support and guidance during the project's development and implementation and also Ms. Mbabazi Norah for her support and input on this blog.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have generously donated to the project so far: Dr. Noel D. Johnson for his time and advice on the project design, as well as financial support and Ms. Alexandra Mislin, Ms. Gwynyth Mislin, and Ms. Elise Garvey for their generous donations.

Training Materials and Self-Monitoring/Evaluation

This week, I put together four bound booklets to leave with the VSLAs. They feature a page on acknowledgements, information about the project, and recommendations; more detailed copies of the materials used in the training, including revenue models for the first and future offspring, VSLA responsibilities, and a copy of the Contract for the Pig Caretaker; and several copies each of forms to aid the VSLAs in documenting the progress of the project, including a Monthly VSLA Report, a Monthly List of Expenditures, and a Buyer Report. We plan to distribute them and make arrangements for monthly monitoring on our part as well this Wednesday, 19 August. This Wednesday we will also complete the implementation process in Kyotera, as we Godfrey says that he will have six more pigs to deliver by that time. I'll be posting more pictures from the training and pig delivery in Kyotera as soon as I can. In the meantime, check out the slide show from the Kasaali implementation and all of the additions that have been made to the blog... Oh, and if anyone knows how to post Word documents or Excel sheets to a blog, please let me know! I want to add copies of the budget and of the training materials and models that we are using. Thanks!

Fundraising

I was talking to my host father the other day, and he believes that the project could benefit the people of his village, too.  He’s in the technology area of one of the sub-county governments and does a lot of field work with the people in his village, including rainwater harvesting projects and other projects for development.  I have added a PayPal donation button to the blog.  I’m hoping to raise some funds to expand the project to this area.  It’s about 30 USD for each pig since we want to give them 5 month old pigs so as to reduce the chance of them dying before they can produce.  The costs for the training materials have already been covered, so as of now, it's just the cost of the pigs and if there are some funds left, to cover transport for implementing and also evaluating in Kasaali, Kyotera and anywhere else that it is implemented.  I would need only 12 pigs because the project grows and expands on its own as the pigs reproduce, so that’s $360.  I'm not asking for any more than $400, though, since I have no other plans as of yet to expand it further than this.  So, if anyone wants to donate, it would be very much appreciated.  I’ll have to work to adapt the project to suit the existing structures of that community’s groups because they do not have the same kind of Village Savings and Loan Associations as the communities that I currently work with have, but as long as there is some kind of community group structure and a basis for cooperation, then I think it can work.  I would do a household survey in the beginning there as well to serve as a baseline survey for later evaluation.  Anyways, hopefully I can raise the funds!  Thanks for reading!

About Wednesday and Some Photos

As I said in my last post, we started implementing the project in Kasaali and Kyotera this past Wednesday.  With the help of Godfrey, the husband of the Chairwoman of the Kyotera cluster, Agnes, we were able to find six pigs to buy from the village.  We delivered the pigs to the Kasaali cluster in the afternoon and did a short training on the project design.  We addressed some concerns and points that were brought up by the people in both clusters and were able to make changes to the model design based on their suggestions on the spot.  From those experiences we’ve been able to come up with an explanatory diagram that can be used in future training sessions as the project spreads to other VSLAs and perhaps even other clusters.  This week, I’ve also come up with some charts to organize monthly information collected by the cluster committees on the VSLAs, costs associated with maintaining the pigs and profits generated, as well as information on the buyers.

Looking back on Wednesday, it was really the best day that I’ve had here without question.  I had been facing some frustrating challenges, but this put everything into perspective.  The villagers were so happy that they sang and danced in thanks for the project.  I don’t think that they realize that I am the one who should be thanking them for the opportunity to work with them and be able to design and implement something to help them.  And I really do hope that it helps them.  I am thankfully going to be able to monitor how the project is going each month through December.  I don’t know how I’ll pull it off, but I want to be able to come back in a year or so and see if any good came of the project.  

The first two were taken in Kasaali.  In the first one, I am obviously the confused looking Mzungu (white) haha.  The man in the second picture is Godfrey, the man who helped us get the pigs and also do the training in Kyotera.  The last picture is one of the training session that was held in Kyotera.  

Implementation!!

Hi! Yesterday I started implementing the project in Kasaali and Kyotera (yes, I changed my mind again). Kasaali got the pigs, and though both were trained on how the program works, Kyotera will have to wait til next Wednesday. I will draft a post tomorrow and post it soon with pictures and details. The whole thing was pretty awesome. Let's just hope that it produces some results for them...

Surveys...and a Change of Plans

In terms of what we've done, we conducted a survey of 46 households in the Kasaali cluster and 29 households in the Kyotera cluster on 16 and 23 July with the generous help of some community members who helped in the interviewing.  The surveys revealed significant differences in levels of households’ access to their main sources of water.  While none of the households in Kasaali surveyed were more than 2 km away from their water source, with most of them less than 1 km away, it was found that seven of the 29 households in Kyotera were upwards of 3 km away from their nearest water source, with one household surveyed 10 km from their water source and another household indicating that they buy their water.  It was explained by a UWESO staff member that rainwater harvesting tanks were constructed in Kasaali under a joint program with UN-HABITAT, but Kyotera missed out due to lack of funding.  A survey of roughly 15 households in each of UWESO’s clusters completed for the UWESO Head Office in December 2007 had also revealed a great need in Kyotera for better access to water.

In light of this, I have decided to postpone bringing the project to Kyotera in favor of exploring the possibility of starting a small rainwater harvesting program which would work on a payback system as well for sustainability purposes.  More surveys will be conducted as part of my work with UWESO in another cluster called Kyakonda.  In the event that I am able to get more funding and the community thinks that it will benefit them, I may try to bring the pigs project to them as well. 

This week will be dedicated to finalizing the model and the plan for implementing it in Kasaali.  I will be going to the field tomorrow, so I should be able to sit with Kasaali and see if the current model will work or, if not, what changes can be made so that it can work.  There will also be some technical issues to address, such as who will be designated as caretakers, and it has been suggested that a committee within the cluster would be helpful in coordinating the implementation, so perhaps documenting who has been selected for that as well.  Anyways, I will be more consistent about updating from here on out...hopefully.

About the Project

The Pigs for Capital Growth and Food Security Project

Communities of the Rakai District, Kasaali Sub-county, specifically the Kasaali and Kyotera clusters of UWESO

The VSLA will initially own 3 pigs communally, all female, and between 9 and 10 months old

VSLA responsibilities:

1. choose the caretaker of the pigs and compensate the caretaker with one pig from the first offspring
2. choose members to form a pig project committee to monitor the project
3. provide the materials for construction of a pig pen and funding for food for the pigs and any medical treatment for the pigs
4. provide at least one other VSLA with three female pigs and training on the program and pig care each cycle
5. may receive pigs from another VSLA only once within a cycle
6. decide at the end of the cycle how many pigs will be sold and how many will remain with the VSLA to start the next cycle

Caretaker responsibilities:

1. receive training on pig care
2. report any problems that may arise to the pig project committee in a timely fashion, regardless of whether or not there is a meeting scheduled
3. build a pig pen and provide food and any medical treatment necessary for the pigs

Distribution of profits:

The profits from each pig will be divided among all 25 members in the form of shares.  For example, two pigs will be sold at 50,000USH, so if a VSLA has decided to designate shares to be worth 500 USH, then four shares (2,000USH) will be added to each member’s record of shares, including that of the buyer.  These shares can be added to the start-up shares, since there is a limit on the number of shares that can be bought per meeting. This essentially means that the actual price paid by the buyer for each pig will be 48,000USH.

Additional efforts toward sustainability:

UWESO will be providing training and start up materials to additional VSLAs in the communities, especially those that have spontaneously developed, without the direction of the UWESO staff and trainers.

UWESO and Its Communities

UWESO is an indigenous, non-governmental, interdenominational and non-political development agency working to improve the lives of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVCs) in Uganda, with programs targeting children themselves, their households and their communities.  It works through grass roots community groups called clusters.  These clusters select their own members from the community, are comprised of 35-200 members and usually meet once a week.  UWESO has well established programs in four main areas: Food Security & Nutrition, Health, Social Economic Empowerment, and Education & Child Protection.  Informal interviews with the staff regarding present efforts by the office here have indicated that, within this region, the most sustainable of the main areas is the Social Economic Empowerment area, more specifically, the Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs).  VSLAs are comprised of 10 to 25 members of a cluster, chosen by themselves, and allow for members to have a safe way to save money and make loans among themselves.  In the past, they have operated only from their own savings and the service charges paid by members who take out loans.  The VSLAs also form Social Funds, which require an agreed upon deposit by every member and can be used as a kind of insurance, for example, in the event that there is a death in a member’s family.  For accountability purposes, members share out at the end of a cycle, which is usually a year.  These associations have not only thrived on their own regardless of UWESO’s funding resources but have continued to multiply, even without the guidance or the training of the UWESO staff.  The need for food security is also very evident in the villages, as the responsibility of providing food for several OVCs often falls upon a single adult, and conversations with the communities themselves and the staff have indicated that pigs would greatly benefit the communities because they multiply very quickly, are relatively more resistant to disease, and produce relatively large numbers of offspring.  For more information on UWESO, its communities and its programs you are welcome to visit their website at www.uweso.org.